Back Off, Buddy, Or It`ll Scream

We`ve learned to ignore pesty car alarms, but what about a 110-decibel screech from a handbag or jogger`s fanny pack?

Lorraine Kaufman, vice president of Personal Protection Systems Inc., a New York-based distributor, says the three-tone noise emitted by the Echo personal alarm system is hard to ignore.

``It`s excruciatingly loud and really sounds like someone`s in trouble,`` she says.

The Canadian-made Echo is a canary yellow, battery-operated device about the size of a Sony Walkman. It attaches with Velcro straps to a shoulder bag or belt. If a mugger attacks, the victim yanks the rip cord, and it`s ``sirens away.``

Kaufman says she hopes the Echo alarm will be a deterrent, in the vein of alarm stickers on car windows. ``A thug will look for the easy target, not the one he knows has an alarm.``